Study Guide

---

Am I Okay with Being Ordinary? Scripture​: Read 1 Thess. 4:10b-12; Genesis 11:4: Isaiah 43:1 as a group. Introduction What do you aspire to do? Who do you aspire to be? Much of the deluge of advertising we are exposed to everyday intentionally appeals to our aspirations. Aspirational lifestyle brands promise that wearing the same shoes or taking the same supplements as our favorite celebrities can transform our ordinary lives. Even the happy, successful people we view in our social media feeds can represent aspirational living if we don’t feel we have that success and happiness in our lives. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul urges these believers to ​aspire to ​live quietly, mind their own business, and engage in productive work. These aspirations may seem pretty ordinary to us. It may even seem absurd to aspire to such things. To aspire in our cultural context, as well as in Paul’s day, suggests ambition and striving for something bigger and better than we currently possess. But in the context of this passage of Scripture, these seemingly ordinary activities are actually high standards worth aspiring to for living a life pleasing to God (4:1) and loving one another (4:9). The building of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 is a powerful example of selfish ambition motivated by pride and arrogance. These human beings were building a tower to reach to the heavens, challenging God’s authority. They wanted to make a name for themselves, asserting their own importance through their achievement. This approach is the opposite of pleasing God and loving one another. Yet, even as believers, we can relate to the experience of these tower-builders. We want to feel significant, powerful, and in control of our lives. If we’re honest, we might even want to feel more significant, powerful, and in control than our neighbor. Prideful ambition to make a name for ourselves can have that effect. CS Lewis writes, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man [or woman].” As Christian believers, we don’t have to ​make a name for ourselves because God has given us a name. He has called us by his own name. He says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by my name, you are mine.” And what a beautiful name it is. The Name above all names. In the gospel, the ordinary becomes extraordinary because of the name of Jesus. God has redeemed us through Jesus Christ, his Son, and by faith in him we belong to him as his beloved children. What a powerful name it is. As children of God, who share his name through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, we have more power and significance than we could ever achieve by our own efforts. Because of the gospel, aspiring to an ​ordinary life of pleasing God and loving others is the most extraordinary way to live.

Reflection​:​ ​Take personal inventory of your life, heart, and spiritual journey. Use these prompts as a way to prepare for group discussions or for personal times of prayer. 1.

What do you aspire to do? Who do you aspire to be?

2.

Are you okay with being ordinary?

Discuss 1.

What about the sermon stood out or impacted you the most? Do you have any follow-up questions about the sermon?

2.

What does it mean to live a quiet, ordinary, and faithful life? How do we understand pursuit of excellence, love for our work, or passion for a cause in this view of life?

3.

“It is a wonderfully liberating experience when the desire to please God overtakes the desire to please ourselves, and when love for others displaces self-love” (John Stott). Do you agree that putting love for God and love for others before self is ​liberating?​ Can you identify times in your spiritual journey when some of your desires changed from selfish to self-less?

4.

Missional Living​: Living in the security and significance of being a child of God is counter-cultural. ● What pressures do you experience in your daily life to seek power and influence in ways that are not pleasing to God or showing love to others? ● What practical difference does it make in how you do your work that you don’t have to ​make​ a name for yourself because you have been ​given​ a name by God? What difference does it make in your family relationships and friendships?

Apply We are conditioned by our culture in many ways to pursue selfish ambitions and lifestyles. It is important for Christians to develop habits and routines that help us check the integrity of our motivations and aspirations. Spending time with God in prayer and studying Scripture helps us know him better. And the more we know him the more we will want to live in a way that is pleasing to him. As we face decisions about our aspirations, achievements, and lifestyle, we will increasingly ask ourselves, “Would this please God?”